Kids        Posted by:  A. M.
5/7/99    08:52 AM

I was wondering if any of you have kids and still game actively. I don't have kids, but I've been thinking about it (It'll be a challenge because we'd have to adopt).

I've seen many couples in which the woman stopped gaming after they started having kids. It seems to me that it should be possible to continue with the hobby even with children around. Does anybody have any strategies to suggest?
 
 

children and gaming        Posted by:  C. V. in response to Kids
5/7/99    07:53 PM

In my gaming group there is one married couple with two children. When the kids were smaller, we would game at this couple's house, so that they could keep an eye on the kids and still play. Now that the kids are old enough to stay alone for a time, we all take turns hosting and get together twice a week for sessions.

I do know that our group does not really welcome children disrupting the game, or wanting to join in the game, but that is just us. Your own group might be more tolerant.

Untitled        Posted by:  Savage angel in response to Kids
5/9/99    7:05 AM

One of my friends has kids... although he is the father. He and his wife have come to an arrangement where if she has to go somewhere, and he has a roleplay seesion, they re-arrange the roleplay either to start later or go ahead on a different date.

If he has to go somewhere, then his wife does the same. Compromise is good!

Untitled        Posted by:  R. M. in response to Kids
5/9/99    05:48 PM

Well, I don't have children, but my best friend does. Her oldest has taken her ex-husband's stance that gaming is childish, but we've been explaining things to her and in 2 weeks she'll be trying out her first LARP!!! The 5 year old is another story. She already has her own set of dice, and sits on mom's lap while we play sometimes. There are actually a lot of games out there for youngsters like Rocky & Bullwinkle. I see no reason to stop gaming. If anyone feels that gaming shouldn't be done once you have kids then they need to burn their kids dolls and action figures. (What are the kids doing with them anyway if not a form of role playing without the strict rules?)

Lots of luck!!!!

R.

Untitled        Posted by:  C. F. in response to Kids
5/12/99    02:03 PM

A.-
I don't personally have children (i plan to stay that way for a while, i'm only 16)....However, some members of my family who game and some of my friends who grew up with families that do game had a very interesting childhood experience: Their parents took them to game and started teaching them how to game when they were about 5. The parents gave them their own plots, helped them out and made certain that they were enjoying game. At the same time, the parents had an opportunity to game....Maybe this will work for you...

-TwilightXylia

Untitled        Posted by:  J. H. in response to Kids
5/17/99    11:35 AM

I'm the daughter of a gamer, my mom got me into gaming when I was a kid. Encourage your kids to game is my suggestion, but you don't have to- J. H.

Kids and gaming        Posted by:  L. E. in response to Kids
5/26/99    11:00 AM

I have kids and another lady I game with has kids. How you work out your gaming schedule generally depends on the child's age and temperment. I have been gaming since my kids were babies and there are some adjustments you will have to make, but adjustments for children are an absolute in life. As they get older, they may choose to be involved in the gaming. My oldest are 11 and 12 and currently game with us. I have found that it is another way in which I can teach them to think and act responsibly and make sure they clearly understand the difference between fantasy and reality (as the ones who can't are the ones who give gaming a bad name). Basically, gaming with kids is no more complicated than anything else you want to do after you have children.

L. E.
 

Gaming With Kids        Posted by:  C. A. in response to Kids
5/27/99    10:38 AM

Hi there - this is my first post on the board, and after skimming the threads it seemed a natural place to start.

I didn't start gaming until I was already a Mommy - I'm an old lady of 32 and just started playing last summer. I haven't gamed _without_ kids! My daughter is 8, and my partner's kids are 7 and 10. One of the couples we game with has a 7 year old son, and we just met another couple through our congregation who game - their son is 6.

S. (my partner) never stopped gaming after he and his ex-wife had kids, and neither did she - his kids have always been around it. K. (my 8-year-old) needed some reassurance that we were _just_ _playing_ - she didn't know how to handle it when Mommy seemed hurt or upset! I've always taken K. along with me to most things, though - she went to her first Mensa convention when she was about a year old, and her first SF con when she was 3 or 4. I wouldn't have any hesitation to game with a baby or toddler.

The kids know they can sit quietly and listen to the story, or they can go elsewhere and play. Since there are several parents playing (and the kids know the other adults quite well), we use a 'round robin parenting' method - whatever adult isn't involved in the current action responds as needed to kid requests, needs, suspiciously loud noises (or lack of any noise - even more suspicious when you have 4 rambunctious kids together!). They love game nights - they have friends over, we have junk food readily available (not our norm), we generally rent a video or new Playstation game for them, and we don't enforce bedtime at all.

We host the games since S. is the GM - the other couple of parents have hosted games in the past, as well. Since our houses are already kid-friendly it isn't a problem. If we were gaming elsewhere I'd be more cautious - people without kids might not welcome kids, or might not be as conscious of providing other entertainment to keep them occupied. And we have talked about having the occasional kid-free session - some things just can't really happen during a game when kids are wandering in and out.

R. (the 10-year-old) played Werewolf with us last year but chose not to play Mage after that ended. S. is playing AD&D with the kids and they're having a blast. After we saw Phantom Menace last week he did a one-time Star Wars game with them. I don't know about game FOR kids, but noticed recently that there's a Sailor Moon game, and if the girls find out they'll be wanting to get it and play it.

Woof - this got long, sorry!

C.

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